THE IDEAL MUSLIMAH

Bishr ibn al-Harith: I heard ‘Isa ibn Yunus (rahimahullah) say,

‘If a slave finishes the Qur’an (khatm), an Angel kisses him in-between his eyes.’1

Imam al-Aajuri: ‘Such a person should make the Qur’an a fountain for his heart, rectifying by it whatever has become corrupt in his heart. He should take on the qualities of the Qur’an and adorn himself with a beautiful character whereby he becomes distinguished from the rest of the people who do not recite or memorise the Qur’an.’

‘If he speaks, he speaks with knowledge… and were he to be silent, he is silent with knowledge… He does not involve himself in matters that do not concern him for he fears his tongue more than he fears his enemies. He imprisons his tongue just as he would imprison his enemy so that he may be safe from its evil and the evil of its consequences. His face is pleasant and his words are sweet.’2

Al-Hasan ibn ‘Ali (radhiallahu `anhu):

‘Indeed those who came before you saw the Qur’an as personal letters from their Lord. So they would ponder over it by night and yearn for it by day.’3

‘Abdullah ibn ‘Umar (radhiallahu `anhuma) said,

‘Adhere to the Qur’an! Study it and teach it to your children for surely you shall be questioned about it and you shall be rewarded by it and it is sufficient as warner for the wise one.’4

Ibn Mas’ud (radhiallahu `anhu) said,

‘Verily, hearts are like vessels (i.e. made to embrace things) so occupy them with the Qur’an and do not engage them with other than it.’5

Ibn ‘Umar (radhiallahu `anhu) said,

‘The first thing that decreases in (a person’s) worship is Tahajjud (the night prayer) and reciting therein with an audible voice.’6

Sufyan al-Thawri: ‘Abdullah ibn al-Mubarak said, ‘I asked Sufyan al-Thawri, ‘If a man rises up for prayer, what should he intend by his recitation and prayer?’ He said,

‘He should intend thereby to beseech and implore his Lord.’ 7

Al-Hasan al-Basri said,

‘Adhere to the Book of Allah `azza wa jall, follow what is in it of examples and become a people of insight by it.’

Then he said,

‘May Allah have mercy upon a slave who presents himself to the Book and acts upon it; if his deeds are in accordance to the Book of Allah, he praises Allah and if his deeds are in contrast to the Book of Allah, he rebukes himself and returns from a near distance.’

He (rahimahullah) also said,

‘Those who have the most right to this Qur’an are those who follow it even if they have not read it.’8

Imam al-Aajuri said,

‘(O people), Do you not see how your Lord the Most Generous has encouraged His creation to reflect upon His Words? Whoever reflects upon His Words recognizes His Lord `azza wa jall and recognizes the greatness of His Power and Authority. He recognizes His immense Favour on the believers and recognizes what has been mandatory upon him in His worship. So he adheres to the obligatory deeds, warns himself from what His Lord has warned him of and he desires only what His Lord has desired for him.

And so whoever has these attributes at the time when he is reciting the Qur’an or listening to it being recited by others, then for him the Qur’an is a cure. He is enriched but not by wealth, honoured but not by the people and he is at peace and serenity when others are lonely.’9

Abu ‘Abd al-Rahman al-Sullami said regarding the following hadeeth,

‘The best of you is the one who learns the Qur’an and teaches it.’ [al-Bukhari]

‘It is this (the above hadith) that has caused me to sit in my place here.’

He (rahimahullah) sat and taught in the main mosque from the time of ‘Uthman’s khilafah until the dictatorship of Hajjaj ibn Yusuf.

Tawus said,

‘Those with the most beautiful voices when reciting the Qur’an are those who fear Allah the most.’10

‘Umar ibn ‘Abd al-’Aziz wrote to his workers ordering that none be placed as governors except the people of Qur’an. His workers wrote to him saying, ‘We have placed the people of Qur’an in charge but we found (some of) them to be unreliable!’ So he wrote back to them,

‘Do not put anyone in charge of the masses except the people of Qur’an. If there is no good in them, then it’s even more-so the case that there’ll be no good in other than them.’11

_______________

References:

1] Hilyat al-Awliya, by Abu Nu’aym (8/355)
2] Akhlaq Hamalat al-Qur’an, by Abu Bakr al-Aajuri (pg. 154)
3] Al-Tibyan fi Adab Hamalat al-Qur’an, by Imam al-Nawawi
4] Mashkal al-Athar, by Imam al-Tahawi
5] Musannaf Ibn Abi Shaybah
6] Khalq Af’al al-’Ibad
7] Ta’dhim Qadr al-Salah
8] Qa’idah fi Fadha’il al-Qur’an, by Ibn Taymiyyah
9] Akhlaq Hamalat al-Qur’an (pg. 109)
10] Bid’ al-Qurra, by Bakr Abu Zayd
11] Al-Aadab al-Shar’iyyah, by Ibn Muflih al-Maqdisi